I am famously either over or under thinking big projects, and today I’m here to tell you how I’m battling (and winning!) the fight to dream big and take on more intensive projects. Hello friends, May Flaum here and I am absolutely thrilled to share my insights and ideas with you today. The idea for this article came up as I used the methods I’ll talk about in my piece last month about making my own travel guides. That particular project has been started, tried, and failed for YEARS until now, until I brought my Archer & Olive Notepad into the mix.

The notepads are key because I can work on an idea, and tear it out when done or when it’s not working. Flip that paper over and work some more (since they are super thick high quality paper!) or start a new page. The keepers I can store any number of ways - sometimes taping to my wall so that I can see and visualize next steps, not to mention keeping it in mind. So how does this help with taking on larger scale organized projects? It enables me to break down the steps, and work through simply, easily, and in a quickly changeable way.

Step 1: What do you want?

We start vague, and often I’m in my random thoughts and brain dump notebook when this begins. What is it that I’m wishing for? What is my general vision when it comes to this new project idea? Sticking to notebooks and journaling - this is usually something like “I want to completely change how I do memory keeping I want a new format and formula” or “I want to save all of the information about — in a way that —-” type of thing. It’s some idea that I may or may not yet be able to verbalize the details of - but I have a vision of what I do want/wish for. Wherever you choose to do this - in this step you want to just release all the words and images that come to mind. No eliminating, no judging, no censoring. Just let all of the thoughts out of your head, and onto paper.

Step 2: So, how would that work?

Step two is where reality starts to creep in. This is where you start asking questions, start seeing what is logistically possible and what definitely is not. This isn’t to say to crush dreams or definitively say yes or no to your own ideas and vision - but it is a place to begin pondering what things will look like. For example - a whole page illustration a day sounds amazing for a year-long project. But will you have the time to commit to that? Would one a week perhaps be more realistic? Or if I wanted to start documenting daily life (every day) - what am I willing to give up in my life to make time for a daily habit like that? It’s more about asking questions, and trying to see what the reality of your vision would look like.

Some things to consider? I’ve got a download for you!

You may notice I’ve not set times or deadlines on how long any of this takes. That is because it depends! I’ve had projects where I whip right through the stages easily and quickly, and others where it takes weeks or months to process and work out what I’d like. It’s not necessarily about too much (or not enough) thinking either - it’s got a lot to do about how clear a vision and how viable your initial idea is without help.

Step 3: What is definitely out?

Now is the part where I like to remove possibilities. Have you ever stared at the ice cream section at the grocery store and had to select just one? With so many dozens of brands now, and so many amazing flavors that’s tricky! Odds are sticking to this same scenario here you’d start by saying “well I don’t want ___, ___, or ___” which automatically removes a bunch of choices, narrowing your field of contenders. That’s the idea here. We want to start removing the overwhelm, and starting to see the path forward to success on this big project. Stating what we won't use or don't want (journal size, items to use, etc) will remove a lot of possibilities and narrow our field of vision. 

Step 4: Where does that leave us?

New page for my notepad here for sure - where does that leave us? If we’ve removed notebook sizes, project aspects, even altered the exact what that we want - this should leave us a much smaller field of possibilities. Gather up what you have at this point, and let’s check in. The object here is to see what you’ve come up with, what you’ve narrowed down for yourself, and where that leaves you. In some cases you might have more questions than answers, or find yourself feeling this project isn’t for you - that’s OK! You may also find you have a wildly different vision vs initial idea, or you may find a clear and final vision for where you’re headed.

Step 5: Verbalize!

This could be chatting with someone (myself included!) on social media, calling a friend, chatting up a coworker… but we need to verbalize “I’ve got this big idea project it is — and I’m going to —-”. You could even pretend to talk to someone or tell your dog - but verbalizing vs writing can sometimes identify sticky spots, unrealistic ideas, or even alter what you aim for! This is a possibly fast but very vital step as a lot of times saying the things out loud you will notice or hear something important that you should stick with - or change.

Step 6: What is unclear, or needs more thought?

This might be a skippable step- or you may be going back to step 1 and starting over! There isn’t a wrong answer here, but this is the phase where you are looking at where the gaps are, where you see problems, or what needs further reflection. For example, I had a big memory keeping change and it wasn’t as simple as “no matter what I am doing —” so I needed to spend more time, and think a bit more about the complexities of some situations such as vacations where I want a LOT of talking and stories. I found for that project I had side quests, exceptions, and ‘unless…” to consider.

Step 7: What do I need to get started?

It’s been quite the journey - but now is when you get to shop! Head over to A&O for a new notebook, grab some pens… depending on what you’ve worked out this is the point to shop, gather supplies, and commit.

With a well thought out plan, having considered the many questions that undoubtedly will arise, as well as what the reality of your project will look like you’ve now got a blueprint for journaling success! For each person and project things can look different - but walking through what works (and doesn’t) for you, what you want from a project, and what the process of making this a reality is going to set you up to be happy with your finished project.

For me, I’ve found slowing down and critically thinking about reality vs what I think I want has really helped me set out to succeed in my larger projects. It has made a huge difference in how I am approaching big ideas, and helped me to find and avoid problems and pitfalls by taking a little extra time to consider and plan.

I am always here to support you! Please feel free to reach out to me @craftwithmay on social media like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok! I love chatting and am always happy to root for you and cheer you on as well as help you troubleshoot. If you try any ideas from this article and post to social media I encourage you to tag @archerandolive, @archerandolive.community and use hashtags #AOShare and #archerandolive so that the community can see your work as well.